


I am a Freak

by HobblyWobbly



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Adopted Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Caring Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Childhood Trauma, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lonely Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Masks, Ranboo-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Sad Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), at this point just always expect it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:56:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29751666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HobblyWobbly/pseuds/HobblyWobbly
Summary: He knew that because of enderman genes he wasn't considered normal. That just sight of his face was considered terrifying. He could unhinge his jaw farther than anyone else, the lines of his mouth similar to that of a squiggle, and the back of his throat glowing purple and spitting particles. So he wore the mask. No matter how uncomfortable it was.After all, he’s a freak. It was better that way. If only to avoid the fighting.In which Ranboo learns that a home isn't just a roof over your head; it's a place where you can be yourself.
Relationships: Ranboo & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 938





	I am a Freak

The first time Ranboo dawned the mask had been in Hypixel. His memories of that time are blurry at most, but he remembers the laughter and the kicking, the way his body ached and protested, how they grabbed his face forcing his jaws shut. 

Ever since then, he began wearing a mask.

He knew that because of enderman genes he wasn't considered normal. That just sight of his face was considered terrifying. He could unhinge his jaw farther than anyone else, the lines of his mouth similar to that of a squiggle, and the back of his throat glowing purple and spitting particles. So he wore the mask. No matter how uncomfortable it was.

After all, he’s a freak. It was better that way. If only to avoid the fighting.

Fundy asked him about it once. The two were out mining- a friendly routine for the two that had come with their budding friendship.

"It's gotta be uncomfortable, right?" Fundy tilts his head. Ranboo chuckles awkwardly bringing his pickaxe down on the iron ore. "Wearing that thing for hours on end. Do you even take it off at home?"

"Not...really..." He thinks back on the time Tubbo barged in unannounced and almost caught Ranboo without his mask. The event had nearly sent him into a panic attack then and there, and Tubbo spent the entire day apologizing. Thankfully, Tubbo never pried. But Ranboo stopped taking the mask off after that even in the safety of his own home. "It's kinda like you and your hat! Why do you always wear your hat?"

"My mom gave me it." 

“...oh.” Ranboo promptly swallowed his tongue. He continued mining and stopped talking.

Fundy didn't bring it up again.

The thing is, Tubbo always seemed to know what boundaries to never cross with Ranboo, and it's one of the many reasons why he gravitated to the boy.

He never questioned why Ranboo held his hand during cabinet meetings when Quackity lost his temper. He always came running if it started raining and Ranboo was caught off-guard. Always there. Even with all his presidential duties, Tubbo was always there for him. 

But Tubbo was a passive hybrid. No one feared a sheep. An enderman, however.

Ranboo was late for the cabinet meeting. He hadn’t meant to sleep in, but he had stayed up the entire night pouring over new documents Ghostbur found for him. Time seemed to have passed by faster than he thought and the next thing Ranboo knew he was waking up bent over his desk.

Apologies at the ready, Ranboo grips the doorknob.

"How are we even sure he won't turn on us?" Quackity's voice had Ranboo freeze. "That- we don't even know what he is! He doesn't know what he is! And that book- who knows what's on that thing!"

Tubbo never gave a retort. 

Ranboo never participated in that meeting. 

Ranboo tried to pass it off as Quackity feeling stressed after the failed execution, but he knew he was right. There have more instances where Ranboo wakes up in an unfamiliar place with a gap in his memory.

He just kept his head down and his mask on. There was no point speaking up about it. L’manburg was kind enough to let him live there and keep the roof over his head. It was his first home. He had friends. They cared. He knew they cared. It’s why Quackity said all those things, why Fundy never turns his back around Ranboo, why Niki turned a blind eye.

_But why did his chest feel so empty?_

Another ghost no one cared about when he wasn't around.

But, then, that all changed. On Doomsday, he lost everything.

And in an obsidian prison of his own doing, Phil found Ranboo.

“Do you need a place to stay?”

The tundra wasn’t a proper home by any means. Ranboo spent most of his days tending his small wheat farm and mining for supplies. But he was happy.

"Hey, princeling, you wanna join us for dinner?" Techno doesn't look up from his communicator. Letting Phil know they were coming home. The nickname had started as a joke; Ranboo wanted to fit in with the Blood God and the Angel of Death, but it seemed to stick. He found that he didn't mind it all that much.

"Alright, sure!" Ranboo smiles, chuckling when Techno bumps their shoulders. 

And then it hits him. Dinner means eating. Eating means taking off the mask. Taking off the mask means- "um..." Techno turns, completely at ease, a question at the ready. Ranboo scratches the underside of his thumb. "Nevermind!"

He debated feigning being sick, but then the guilt hit. They were inviting him to dinner. Dinner. Phil was easy to read, but Techno not as much. Yet here he was welcoming Ranboo into his home. A place where he is vulnerable and lets his defenses down. He couldn't do that to them. 

So, when night came around, Ranboo climbed the steps. He’d only stay for a bit. Maybe he could tell them he wasn’t feeling that hungry, or Enderchest was sick. At least then it’s not rude-

"Just in time! Techno finished makin' the stew, and I was just setting the table!" Phil is the one who greets Ranboo at the door. His hair is pulled into a loose ponytail and there’s an easy smile on his face. He pulls Ranboo inside not noticing his apprehension.

Techno grunts a greeting from the small kitchenette. “You just sit at the table- dinner should be ready soon.” Ranboo watches the two dance around each other with practiced ease. A familiarity one could only have after spending years together.

Ranboo wonders if he could ever be that close with someone. He wonders if he hadn't screwed everything up that someone could've been Tubbo. When the table is set and dinner served, Ranboo's flight or fight kicks in. His leg bounces anxiously under the table.

The stew looks so good. Everything cooked to perfection. Ranboo had Techno's cooking only once before- Phil bringing him leftover one night- so he knew just how good a cook he is. Actually, ‘good’ doesn’t do it justice. His stomach growls.

"Ranboo, you not hungry?" Oh god, what does he do? Phil was staring at Ranboo in concern whereas Techno- well, he just seemed to be thinking. 

"N-No, I am! Sorry, I'm just uh...my uh...mask..." That only confuses the two further. "I um..."

"We're not gonna judge you," Techno says calmly. Thankfully cutting off Ranboo’s stutters before he could embarrass himself. "I'm a pig half the time and Phil is a literal bird. Whatever they said in L'manburg doesn't apply here, got it? Just...be yourself."

"Couldn't put it better myself." Phil gives Techno a proud smile. Techno rolls his eyes breaking his loaf of bread in half.

With a shaking hand, Ranboo tugs the elastic off, his ear flicking at the unfamiliar touch, forcing his mouth to stay shut. Through his bangs, he watches Phil and Techno's reactions. But, to his surprise, nothing changes. "Are- this okay?"

He keeps his words clipped not wanting to toe the line. Phil opens his mouth to say something, but Techno cuts him off. "Yeah."

That one word is enough to make Ranboo's chest ache. He begins eating after that, falling into the familiar back 'n' forth banter with the two.

It's the first time he has shown his face around other people in years, and he doesn't regret it for a second. He doesn't stop smiling. The mask stays off the rest of the night. 

And, eventually, he stops wearing the mask out in the arctic entirely.

**Author's Note:**

> wear ur masks :)
> 
> ~~Also according to Ao3 statistics, only a small percentage of people reading this fic actually comment/leave kudos. Please do. It's free and I highly appreciate it.~~
> 
> Feel free to check out my Twitter! I post drabbles, hcs, make theories, and rt a lot of art!  
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/H0bblyW0bbly)


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